Seeking the Maqam

For Seeking the Maqam, Regine Basha circles back to the origins of her research of Iraqi-Jewish musical traditions and dedicates this last episode of the Tuning Baghdad series to the only ethnomusicologist, Yeheskel Kojaman who has written on the Iraqi Maqam and the role of the Iraqi Jewish musicians in pre-1950s Baghdad. Tracks include present-day maqam musicians Hamid Al-Saadi and Amir ElSaffar as well as archival tracks by noted maqam musicians. A surprise remix track by rock musician, Dudu Tassa, grandson of an Iraqi-Jewish composer, caps off this final session.

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Host Regine Basha asks the question: can there be a musical citizenship? through her explorations into the musical history of the Iraqi-Jewish diaspora through home recordings of this last generation musicians.